Sustainability Summit Asia 2017

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Overview

The Sustainability Summit 2017 will bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, regulators and leading researchers from across Asia for a forthright discussion about the opportunities and challenges inherent in the transition to sustainability.

About the summit:

2018 will be the year that negotiators from over 190 countries formalise the implementation of the deal struck in Paris in late 2015. More world leaders signed up than had ever done so before, and it came hot on the heels of a global agreement on a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But since then, environmental progress in Asia has been slow. Hazy and toxic air, burning forests, poisoned water, unsafe food and congested roads have become commonplace in many of its biggest countries. The region’s private sector has a significant opportunity to promote sustainability within a sound policy framework and reap the commercial benefits.

This chance comes at a time of global uncertainty. American president Donald Trump has fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the Paris agreement and to gut investment into environmental programmes. China, the world’s number-one investor in renewable energy, still uses more coal than every other country in the world combined. Yet it has the opportunity to lead global environmental efforts. And India is on track to complete its huge solar commitment. But the effects of climate change on Asian manufacturing, supply-chain management and agriculture are getting steadily worse.

To turn things around, the business case needs to be made clear.

What role can firms and investors play in shaping new thinking and turning ambition into action? What business opportunities will emerge? And how are innovative entrepreneurs reshaping the Asian response to climate change?

Why attend

Assess the effects that global economic, social, and geopolitical changes are having on the business of sustainability

Participate in an intimate gathering of business leaders, leading to a better networking and learning experience

Hear from key experts

Engage more thanks to interactive business-focused strategy sessions

Connect with those at the forefront of the sustainability effort

Shape the evolving dialogue on sustainability and gain insights from fellow decision-makers and innovators

Join the global effort to create an inclusive and environmentally sustainable marketplace

Speakers

Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar

Minister of natural resources and environment, Malaysia

Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar

Minister of natural resources and environment, Malaysia

Wan Junaidi has been Malaysia’s minister of natural resources and environment since July 2015. He joined the country’s parliament in 1990 as the member for the Batang Lupar constituency in Sarawak, representing the United Bumiputera Heritage Party (PBB), and has been the member for Santubong, also in Sarawak, since 2004. He became the deputy minister of home affairs in 2013, and has also been a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr Junaidi holds a doctorate in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Liu Thai-Ker

Founding chairman, Centre for Liveable Cities

Liu Thai-Ker

Founding chairman, Centre for Liveable Cities

Since 1992 Liu Thai Ker, a renowned architect-planner, has been director of RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, a consulting firm with projects in Singapore and over a dozen other countries. He has been appointed the planning adviser to nearly 30 major cities in China. He is concurrently chairman of the advisory board of the Centre for Liveable Cities and is a member of several governmental bodies in Singapore.

He was chief architect and CEO of the Housing and Development Board from 1975 to 1989, during which time he saw the completion of over half a million dwelling units. He was chief planner and CEO of the Urban Redevelopment Authority from 1989 to 1992; during his tenure he spearheaded a major revision of the Singapore Concept Plan 1991.

He is also an adjunct professor at the School of Design and Environment and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, both at the National University of Singapore, as well as at Nanyang Technological University.

He is a recipient of several awards, both locally and internationally, including most recently the Singapore National Day Award, the Distinguished Service Order, the Singapore Design Council Golden Jubilee Award and the Singapore Institute of Planners Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei is the executive director of the integrated environment policy and planning sector at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). He leads the organisation’s whole-of-government environmental strategic planning and the development of environmental policy. He also defines the EAD’s position on key environmental issues while working with local and federal entities to work an environmental agenda into their strategies and plans, and sits on several high-level committees at the federal and local levels. Mr Al Madfaei holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of St Thomas in Minnesota, a master’s degree in strategic and security studies from the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates, and a PhD in environmental management from the University of Reading.

Alan Bollard

Executive director, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Alan Bollard

Executive director, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Alan Bollard is the executive director of the APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, the body that promotes trade, investment and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. Mr Bollard advances APEC’s agenda by executing APEC’s work programmes as mandated by leaders and ministers.
Prior to joining APEC, Mr Bollard was the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012. In that position, he was responsible for monetary policy and bank regulations, helping steer New Zealand through the global financial crisis.

From 1998 to 2002, Mr Bollard was the secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. As the government’s principal economic adviser, he managed the Crown’s finances and helped guide economic policy. He has served as New Zealand’s alternate governor to the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. From 1994 to 2008, he was the chairman of the New Zealand Commerce Commission. Prior to this, from 1987 to 1994, he was director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
Mr Bollard has a PhD in economics from the University of Auckland. He has since been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees. In 2012 he was honoured as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Anirban Ghosh

Chief sustainability officer, Mahindra Group

Anirban Ghosh

Chief sustainability officer, Mahindra Group

Anirban Ghosh has worked with the $19bn Mahindra Group, where he is currently the chief sustainability officer, since 1999. He leads the strategy and implementation of the group’s sustainability drive. He has shaped Mahindra’s award-winning sustainability framework and has been acknowledged as a distinguished chief sustainability officer.

Mr Ghosh has held roles in sales, marketing and strategy in Mahindra’s farm business and has been the president of Mahindra USA. He has created strategies leading to Mahindra becoming the largest tractor company in the world and expanding beyond farm equipment into the entire agricultural value chain. He has also led an impactful project in which the income of 20,000 rural Indians more than doubled in five years.

Mr Ghosh has served on the committees of many industry associations in India and the US, including the board of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, USA. He has been a guest lecturer at business schools in India.

Ms Leung served as SDCC’s deputy director-general, East Asia department deputy director-general and South-east Asia department director for the urban development and water division. She has nearly three decades of experience in multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary projects in Asia and North America. She is an urban planner with expertise in urban development, water resources management, project design and monitoring.

Ms Leung holds a master of business administration from the University of Singapore, a master of science from the University of Toronto, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong.

Azam Khan

Country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, International Finance Corporation

Azam Khan

Country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, International Finance Corporation

Azam Khan is the country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Lesté at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and is based in Jakarta. Previously, he was the IFC’s chief investment officer for infrastructure in East Asia and the Pacific, and was based in Singapore.

Mr Khan joined IFC in Washington in 2000 as an assistant investment officer in the private-equity and investment funds department. From 2003 to 2011, he led its private-equity business in East Asia. He was also the global structuring specialist for all infrastructure and distressed debt funds, and negotiated transactions with leading players across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Russia.

He holds a master’s degree in engineering and an MBA from Purdue University.

Chris Botsford

Chief executive officer, ADM Capital

Chris Botsford

Chief executive officer, ADM Capital

Christopher Botsford is chief executive officer of ADM Capital and a member of the investment advisory committee. Prior to establishing ADM Capital, Mr Botsford ran the Asia-Pacific regional debt and derivatives operation for Republic National Bank of New York. In 1995, he was a founding board member of the Asian arm of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the self-governing body for the derivatives industry. Mr Botsford has a master’s degree in engineering from Cambridge University, England.

Daniel Porzel-Fang

Daniel Porzel-Fang

Daniel Porzel-Fang is the assistant chief executive and a director of Shenzhen Fountain Corporation, a publicly listed real-estate, clean-energy, transportation and environmental technology company. He joined the business in 2006 and was appointed to its executive board; in 2010, he joined the board of directors. His focus on innovative water technologies is his latest contribution to the company’s sustainable development.

Mr Porzel-Fang started his career at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (now Airbus), where he worked on company-wide finance and reporting integration for the newly established aeronautics group. After short stints at Deutsche Bank and Dywidag-Systems International, a technology company supplying the construction and underground mining industries, he moved to China, where he joined the administration of the Guangzhou Development District, a state-level development zone. He was the first foreigner to be directly employed by a government agency in Guangzhou, and was part of a team that attracted the largest single foreign direct investment in the city’s history, which was worth over $2 billion.

Dany Qian

Vice-president, Jinko Solar

Dany Qian

Vice-president, Jinko Solar

Dany Qian is the vice-president of Jinko Solar. As part of Jinko’s leadership team, Ms Qian has extensive experience in scaling businesses in the solar industry and led the execution of Jinko’s market-positioning strategy through the company’s transformation into an industry leader. As an industry veteran, Ms Qian has first-hand exposure to the turbulent nature of the solar industry and has directed the company in navigating through rapid industry changes.

As a leader of the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer, Ms Qian has been very active in the global sustainability conversation. Earlier this year, she co-chaired the B20 Energy, Climate, Resource and Efficiency Task-force. She was also the only solar industry representative at the landmark Paris Climate Agreement meetings.

Dechen Tsering

Regional director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Environment Programme

Dechen Tsering

Regional director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Environment Programme

Dechen Tsering was appointed as the regional director of UN Environment in Asia and the Pacific in March 2017. As the regional arm of UN Environment, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the Asia-Pacific office works with governments, local authorities and the private sector to develop and put into place cleaner and safer policies and strategies that encourage the efficient use of natural resources and reduce risks for humans and the environment.

Ms Tsering has held management and leadership positions with the United Nations and has over 25 years of experience in national government and intergovernmental organisations, including the World Bank. She has been actively involved in intergovernmental negotiations as a key negotiator for least-developed countries and contributed to the establishment of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group. She also has experience in the management of complex development projects.

She comes to UN Environment from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, where she served as director of the Finance, Technology and Capacity-building Programme. In that position, she supported international co-operation on mobilisation of finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity building to enable countries to take enhanced action on climate change. Prior to that position, she was the deputy regional director of UN Environment in Asia and the Pacific.
Ms Tsering holds a PhD in forest economics and policy from the Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. She also has a master’s degree from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ephyro Luis Amatong

Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Philippines

Ephyro Luis Amatong

Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Philippines

Ephyro Luis B Amatong was appointed a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines in 2014. He is currently the supervising commissioner for the markets and securities regulation department and the economic research and training department. Before joining the SEC, Mr Amatong was an assistant secretary of the Department of Finance, where he had an active role in the privatisation of 74 ha of Food Terminal Inc.

He has served in various capacities in the government, including as vice-president of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (2012–13), corporate staff officer of the National Power Corporation (2010–12), acting chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration (2011), corporate legal counsel and assistant corporate secretary of PNOC Exploration Corporation (2008–10), adviser to Ambassador Hilario Davide of the permanent mission of the Philippines to the United Nations (2007–08) and senior law clerk to then Justice Conchita Carpio Morales of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (2003–05). Before joining the government, Mr Amatong was an associate with Villaraza & Angangco (2002–03).

Mr Amatong was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2002 and the New York Bar in 2007. He holds a master of laws degree, international finance concentration, from Harvard Law School (2006). He also holds a bachelor of laws degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law (2001) and a bachelor of science in business economics degree, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (1997).

Idris Jala

President and chief executive officer, PEMANDU Associates

Idris Jala

President and chief executive officer, PEMANDU Associates

Idris Jala is the president and chief executive officer of PEMANDU Associates, a private firm as of 1st March 2017, specialises in delivering transformation. He is also an adviser to the prime minister on the National Transformation Programme. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), a unit in the Prime Minister’s Department – the organisation tasked with spearheading Malaysia’s transition towards high income status by 2020. For six years, he also served as minister in the Prime Minister's department, Malaysia and as the managing director of BFR Institute.

Mr Jala is also the founder and executive chairman of the Global Transformation Forum, a platform for influential global leaders to engage and share experiences and best practices on how to drive transformation. In addition, he is an expert resource speaker at the Harvard Ministerial Health Leaders’ Forum and a visiting fellow of practice at the Oxford Blavatnik School of Government. He served on the advisory panel for the World Economic Forum on New Economic Growth and on the advisory panel of the World Bank.

Prior to his government stint, Mr Jala was managing director and chief executive officer at Malaysia Airlines for three years. He also spent 23 years at Shell, rising up the ranks to hold senior positions including vice-president, Shell retail international, and vice-president of the business development consultancy, based in the UK. His work included successful business turnarounds in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Mr Jala holds a bachelor’s degree in development studies and management from the University of Science, Malaysia, and a master’s degree in industrial relations from Warwick University.

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey D Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, a leader in sustainable development, a best-selling author and a syndicated columnist. His monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders and a recent survey by The Economist ranked Professor Sachs among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade.

Professor Sachs served as the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016 and was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016. Prior to his arrival at Columbia University in July 2002, he spent over 20 years as a professor at Harvard University. He is special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals; advised former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Millennium Development Goals; and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.Professor Sachs is director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His work on ending poverty, overcoming macroeconomic instability, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease and promoting sustainable environmental practices has taken him to more than 125 countries. He has advised governments and heads of state on economic strategy for more than 30 years.

Professor Sachs received his BA, MA and PhD at Harvard. He joined the Harvard faculty as an assistant professor in 1980, was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and full professor in 1983, at the age of 28.

Jyoti Shukla

Global director for water, World Bank

Jyoti Shukla

Global director for water, World Bank

Jyoti Shukla is the director of the global water practice of the World Bank, and is based in Singapore. The practice comprises 300 water professionals and a portfolio of $26 billion in investments supporting access to water and sanitation, water security and water resources management.

She joined the World Bank as part of its Young Professionals Program in 1994 and has since held multiple positions, largely in the area of public–private partnerships in infrastructure. Most recently, she has been a senior manager of the Water and Sanitation Program, senior manager of sustainable development for the South Asia region, manager of energy for South Asia, manager of sustainable development for Latin America and the Caribbean, and programme manager of the Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF).

Ms Shukla holds master’s degrees from the Delhi School of Economics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Before joining the World Bank, she held a faculty position at Princeton and worked with a development-consulting firm in India.

Marc Lohoff

Chief operating officer, Conergy

Marc Lohoff

Chief operating officer, Conergy

Marc Lohoff is Conergy’s chief operating officer. He is based in Singapore. In 2012, Mr Lohoff joined the management board of Conergy AG and served as the company’s chief sales officer and chief operations officer. He has played a substantial role in developing the Asia Pacific region for Conergy since joining in 2009 as corporate vice-president.

Before joining Conergy, he was responsible for all manufacturing co-operation at Qimonda AG, focusing on Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan. He was also responsible for the planning of a new DRAM (dynamic random access memory) factory in Singapore. Prior to this, Mr Lohoff worked for several years at Siemens AG and at what would later become Infineon Technologies AG in various leading management roles in logistics, factory automation, and DRAM factory construction and ramp up.

He started his career as a technical officer at the military airport of the German Air Force, where he went on to become technical director controlling operations at the military airport of the German Air Force in Nörvenich. Mr Lohoff studied aeronautical and aerospace engineering at the German University of the Armed Forces in Munich (Universität der Bundeswehr München).

Ngakan Timur Antara

Chief agency for research and development of industry, Ministry of Industry, Indonesia

Ngakan Timur Antara

Chief agency for research and development of industry, Ministry of Industry, Indonesia

Mark Watson

Head of sustainable development, John Swire & Sons

Mark Watson

Head of sustainable development, John Swire & Sons

Mark Watson is head of sustainable development at John Swire & Sons , having previously been head of environmental affairs at Cathay Pacific Airways since 2008. Mr Watson has worked in the sustainable development arena for over 20 years. Throughout his career, he has provided strategic and technical advice to international governments, aid agencies and multinationals on a wide range of environmental, economic and social issues.

In his current role, Mr Watson is responsible for the global sustainable development portfolio of both the publicly listed businesses within Swire Pacific and the private companies of John Swire & Sons, including aviation, property, marine, beverages, trading and industrial, and agribusiness. The position covers addressing overall environmental-impact reductions, identifying and leveraging best practices in the water, carbon, waste and energy sectors, as well as overseeing the group’s sustainable development strategy.

At Cathay Pacific, Mr Watson was global lead on a diverse range of sustainability-related initiatives and efforts to address climate change such as market-based measures, technology deployment and operational improvements. He also authored Cathay Pacific’s sustainable development strategy. As a member of the International Air Transport Association’s Environment Committee, Climate Change Task-force and ICAO Global Market-based Measure Task-force, he played an active role in developing the first global scheme to address aviation emissions, which come into effect in 2021.
He obtained his doctorate from the University of London in 1995.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Founders, Bye Bye Plastic Bags

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Founders, Bye Bye Plastic Bags

When they were 10 and 12 years old, Melati and Isabel Wijsen created Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB), a youth-driven non-governmental organisation that promotes the elimination of plastic bag use. Believing that education is the key for change, the sisters created a 25-page booklet on waste management and youth action. BBPB also provides education through meetings, events, social media and their One Island One Voice campaign, which encourages and celebrates plastic bag–free businesses. They even inspired Bali’s airport to make an official declaration to ban plastic bags. In 2014, BBPB signed a memorandum of understanding with the governor to make Bali plastic free by 2018. In a pilot village, launched by BBPB, they are experimenting with how to make it plastic bag free. In 2015, they gave a TED talk that has now been viewed by over 1.2m online. The team has spoken in eight languages to more than 16,000 students in 13 different countries. To date BBPB has expanded to more than 10 countries. Ms Melati is also a member of the Youth Advisory Council of World Oceans Day, as through their four years of campaigning they increasingly are realising the importance of the ocean and the urgency to protect it.

Pascal Brun

Head of sustainability, global production, Hennes & Mauritz

Pascal Brun

Head of sustainability, global production, Hennes & Mauritz

Pascal Brun is the head of global sustainability production for multinational retail giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). Named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies and one of Corporate Knight’s Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, H&M is setting the conscious business benchmark for the entire apparel industry by re-designing fashion to look good and to do good. With over 15 years in the global attire and textile industry, Mr Brun’s expertise is contributing to further integrate sustainability into the core of the company’s business KPIs and corporate values.

Sergio Kato

Corporate vice- president and general manager of sustainability management division and market development, Ricoh Company

Sergio Kato

Corporate vice- president and general manager of sustainability management division and market development, Ricoh Company

Sergio Kato joined Ricoh in 1982 after graduating from the faculty of law at Waseda University. He is currently a corporate vice-president of the company, as well as the general manager of its sustainability management division, market development centre, and trade and export/import control division. Since 1990, he has held senior executive positions in Europe and Japan, including sales executive of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) business of Ricoh Europe, vice-president of Ricoh Italy and a senior vice-president of Ricoh Europe. From 2010, he was the general manager of the company’s global managed document services centre (currently its business services centre), and from 2013 he was the general manager of the business strategy centre of the business solutions group. Mr Kato became a corporate vice-president of Ricoh and general manager of the sustainability management division in April 2015. In these roles, he manages the Ricoh’s sustainability activities, covering corporate social responsibility and the environment, according to the slogan “driving sustainability for our future”.

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani

Chief executive officer, Sintesa Group

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani

Chief executive officer, Sintesa Group

Shinta Kamdani’s leadership in Sintesa Group began in 1999. As the owner and chief executive officer, Ms Kamdani is responsible for the management and development of the group’s business interests in Indonesia. An Indonesian business group founded in 1919, the Sintesa Group has 16 subsidiaries, divided into four business pillars: property, industrial products, energy and consumer products.

Ms Kamdani serves as the vice chairwoman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, deputy chairwoman of the Employers’ Association of Indonesia, president of the Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development, founder of the Angel Investment Network Indonesia and international board member of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

She has been named among Forbes Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen (2012, 2013 and 2016), Asia’s Leading Businesswoman of the Year from Women in Leadership Forum (2013), Women Entrepreneur of the Year from Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (2014), Women of Power from Asian Business Leadership Forum Abu Dhabi (2012), and 30 Best CEOs by Business Indonesia Award (2015).

Ms Kamdani graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University, in 1989 and completed executive education at Harvard Business School in 2002.

Tommy Leong

President, East Asia and Japan, Schneider Electric

Tommy Leong

President, East Asia and Japan, Schneider Electric

Tommy Leong is the zone president for East Asia and Japan at Schneider Electric. Since his appointment in 2015, he has led the company’s operations in South-East Asia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Mongolia, driving business performance and transformation. He has 25 years of business experience, and formerly held management and marketing roles at Philips, including president of Philips Lighting for Greater China and vice-president of Philips Consumer Lifestyle for ASEAN and the Pacific. During his 13 years at Philips, he was responsible for leading and developing professional and consumer businesses in the Asia-Pacific and China. Mr Leong started his career with nine years at Procter & Gamble, where he gained experience in marketing and brand-management roles in South-East Asia, covering the babycare and haircare categories. He graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and has completed executive development programs with INSEAD, Stanford-NUS and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard leads the Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial services in Asia-Pacific, including Corporate Network, a peer group for senior decision-makers of global businesses operating in the region. A journalist by background, he has worked across a range of publications and services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including as author of the China Market Atlas series and director of its research divisions. A frequent traveller and speaker, he interacts regularly with business and government leaders across Asia. He is also executive director of The Economist’s World Ocean Summit, a global series of events on the sustainable use of our seas.

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist is the global chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. He is responsible for providing intellectual leadership for the EIU’s coverage, for ensuring that its economic and political analysis and forecasts are the best available for international decision-makers, and for managing a global team of economists, consultants and editors. As managing director for the EIU’s Asia consultancy arm, Mr Baptist works with governments to design and assess the impact of public policy, and with companies to drive successful strategy and operational performance in Asia.

Mr Baptist is an experienced economist who has previously spent time as a lecturer at Oxford University and as an economics consultant advising many governments, multinational corporations and international organisations around the world.

Mr Baptist has a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where his research investigated productivity and technology in emerging-market manufacturing firms. He also has degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania.

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

Teddy Sianturi

Director of center for research and development of industry, ministry of industry, Indonesia

Teddy Sianturi

Director of center for research and development of industry, ministry of industry, Indonesia

Ola Jo Tandre

Ola Jo Tandre

Ola Jo Tandre is the vice-president for sustainability at Telenor Group. He has a broad background in the humanities and has previously served as a public-relations and communications manager.

Mr Tandre has been with the Telenor Group for more than a decade. He resides in Norway but travels widely in Asia, and spends much of his time covering Telenor’s footprint in Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Agenda

Registration and refreshments

9:00 AM

Chair’s opening remarks

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

9:20 AM

Panel discussion: Powering change through profit—The business case for sustainability in Asia

Governments, the private sector and international institutions are waking up to the risk of not being sustainable. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimates that out of $143 trillion in managed assets around the world, about $4.2 trillion are at risk—an amount roughly the size of Japan’s GDP. Among the threats involved, extreme weather is disrupting Asia’s business supply chain, and water scarcity is affecting industrial and agricultural output.A greater business commitment to sustainability would not only mitigate these risks and provide opportunities for cost reduction but also offers a chance to find new sources of profit. Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, acknowledges that there “is an opportunity to unlock trillions of dollars through new markets, investments and innovation”. Consumer sensibilities are becoming increasingly eco-friendly, and businesses must catch up to keep them onside.As Asian firms become global players, will they be ahead of the curve, or behind, when it comes to sustainability? How can they include sustainable practices in their core business functions? How can they use the idea of sustainability to identify new and lucrative markets? How can companies determine the cost of ignoring sustainability? And how should businesses adopt environmental and social accounting practices?

Mark Watson

Head of sustainable development, John Swire & Sons

Mark Watson

Head of sustainable development, John Swire & Sons

Mark Watson is head of sustainable development at John Swire & Sons , having previously been head of environmental affairs at Cathay Pacific Airways since 2008. Mr Watson has worked in the sustainable development arena for over 20 years. Throughout his career, he has provided strategic and technical advice to international governments, aid agencies and multinationals on a wide range of environmental, economic and social issues.

In his current role, Mr Watson is responsible for the global sustainable development portfolio of both the publicly listed businesses within Swire Pacific and the private companies of John Swire & Sons, including aviation, property, marine, beverages, trading and industrial, and agribusiness. The position covers addressing overall environmental-impact reductions, identifying and leveraging best practices in the water, carbon, waste and energy sectors, as well as overseeing the group’s sustainable development strategy.

At Cathay Pacific, Mr Watson was global lead on a diverse range of sustainability-related initiatives and efforts to address climate change such as market-based measures, technology deployment and operational improvements. He also authored Cathay Pacific’s sustainable development strategy. As a member of the International Air Transport Association’s Environment Committee, Climate Change Task-force and ICAO Global Market-based Measure Task-force, he played an active role in developing the first global scheme to address aviation emissions, which come into effect in 2021.
He obtained his doctorate from the University of London in 1995.

Ola Jo Tandre

Ola Jo Tandre

Ola Jo Tandre is the vice-president for sustainability at Telenor Group. He has a broad background in the humanities and has previously served as a public-relations and communications manager.

Mr Tandre has been with the Telenor Group for more than a decade. He resides in Norway but travels widely in Asia, and spends much of his time covering Telenor’s footprint in Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Pascal Brun

Head of sustainability, global production, Hennes & Mauritz

Pascal Brun

Head of sustainability, global production, Hennes & Mauritz

Pascal Brun is the head of global sustainability production for multinational retail giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). Named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies and one of Corporate Knight’s Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, H&M is setting the conscious business benchmark for the entire apparel industry by re-designing fashion to look good and to do good. With over 15 years in the global attire and textile industry, Mr Brun’s expertise is contributing to further integrate sustainability into the core of the company’s business KPIs and corporate values.

Sergio Kato

Corporate vice- president and general manager of sustainability management division and market development, Ricoh Company

Sergio Kato

Corporate vice- president and general manager of sustainability management division and market development, Ricoh Company

Sergio Kato joined Ricoh in 1982 after graduating from the faculty of law at Waseda University. He is currently a corporate vice-president of the company, as well as the general manager of its sustainability management division, market development centre, and trade and export/import control division. Since 1990, he has held senior executive positions in Europe and Japan, including sales executive of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) business of Ricoh Europe, vice-president of Ricoh Italy and a senior vice-president of Ricoh Europe. From 2010, he was the general manager of the company’s global managed document services centre (currently its business services centre), and from 2013 he was the general manager of the business strategy centre of the business solutions group. Mr Kato became a corporate vice-president of Ricoh and general manager of the sustainability management division in April 2015. In these roles, he manages the Ricoh’s sustainability activities, covering corporate social responsibility and the environment, according to the slogan “driving sustainability for our future”.

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist is the global chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. He is responsible for providing intellectual leadership for the EIU’s coverage, for ensuring that its economic and political analysis and forecasts are the best available for international decision-makers, and for managing a global team of economists, consultants and editors. As managing director for the EIU’s Asia consultancy arm, Mr Baptist works with governments to design and assess the impact of public policy, and with companies to drive successful strategy and operational performance in Asia.

Mr Baptist is an experienced economist who has previously spent time as a lecturer at Oxford University and as an economics consultant advising many governments, multinational corporations and international organisations around the world.

Mr Baptist has a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where his research investigated productivity and technology in emerging-market manufacturing firms. He also has degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania.

10:15 AM

Panel discussion: Building the policy framework

Progress is being made in establishing the framework for sustainability in Asia. Regional stock exchanges are demanding companies account for sustainability in their annual reports, and governments are setting ambitious SDG targets.But more must be done, and it is argued that policymakers have favoured growth over sustainability. How can the emerging economies of Asia build a regulatory framework for sustainability that will entice investors? How can countries cultivate the new markets that a move towards sustainability will create? And how can regulators develop policies that support achievement of the SDGs?

Jyoti Shukla

Global director for water, World Bank

Jyoti Shukla

Global director for water, World Bank

Jyoti Shukla is the director of the global water practice of the World Bank, and is based in Singapore. The practice comprises 300 water professionals and a portfolio of $26 billion in investments supporting access to water and sanitation, water security and water resources management.

She joined the World Bank as part of its Young Professionals Program in 1994 and has since held multiple positions, largely in the area of public–private partnerships in infrastructure. Most recently, she has been a senior manager of the Water and Sanitation Program, senior manager of sustainable development for the South Asia region, manager of energy for South Asia, manager of sustainable development for Latin America and the Caribbean, and programme manager of the Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF).

Ms Shukla holds master’s degrees from the Delhi School of Economics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Before joining the World Bank, she held a faculty position at Princeton and worked with a development-consulting firm in India.

Liu Thai-Ker

Founding chairman, Centre for Liveable Cities

Liu Thai-Ker

Founding chairman, Centre for Liveable Cities

Since 1992 Liu Thai Ker, a renowned architect-planner, has been director of RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, a consulting firm with projects in Singapore and over a dozen other countries. He has been appointed the planning adviser to nearly 30 major cities in China. He is concurrently chairman of the advisory board of the Centre for Liveable Cities and is a member of several governmental bodies in Singapore.

He was chief architect and CEO of the Housing and Development Board from 1975 to 1989, during which time he saw the completion of over half a million dwelling units. He was chief planner and CEO of the Urban Redevelopment Authority from 1989 to 1992; during his tenure he spearheaded a major revision of the Singapore Concept Plan 1991.

He is also an adjunct professor at the School of Design and Environment and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, both at the National University of Singapore, as well as at Nanyang Technological University.

He is a recipient of several awards, both locally and internationally, including most recently the Singapore National Day Award, the Distinguished Service Order, the Singapore Design Council Golden Jubilee Award and the Singapore Institute of Planners Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei is the executive director of the integrated environment policy and planning sector at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). He leads the organisation’s whole-of-government environmental strategic planning and the development of environmental policy. He also defines the EAD’s position on key environmental issues while working with local and federal entities to work an environmental agenda into their strategies and plans, and sits on several high-level committees at the federal and local levels. Mr Al Madfaei holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of St Thomas in Minnesota, a master’s degree in strategic and security studies from the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates, and a PhD in environmental management from the University of Reading.

Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar

Minister of natural resources and environment, Malaysia

Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar

Minister of natural resources and environment, Malaysia

Wan Junaidi has been Malaysia’s minister of natural resources and environment since July 2015. He joined the country’s parliament in 1990 as the member for the Batang Lupar constituency in Sarawak, representing the United Bumiputera Heritage Party (PBB), and has been the member for Santubong, also in Sarawak, since 2004. He became the deputy minister of home affairs in 2013, and has also been a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr Junaidi holds a doctorate in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey D Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, a leader in sustainable development, a best-selling author and a syndicated columnist. His monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders and a recent survey by The Economist ranked Professor Sachs among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade.

Professor Sachs served as the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016 and was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016. Prior to his arrival at Columbia University in July 2002, he spent over 20 years as a professor at Harvard University. He is special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals; advised former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Millennium Development Goals; and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.Professor Sachs is director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His work on ending poverty, overcoming macroeconomic instability, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease and promoting sustainable environmental practices has taken him to more than 125 countries. He has advised governments and heads of state on economic strategy for more than 30 years.

Professor Sachs received his BA, MA and PhD at Harvard. He joined the Harvard faculty as an assistant professor in 1980, was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and full professor in 1983, at the age of 28.

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

11:50 AM

Panel discussion: Navigating the storm—Sustainability in uncertain times

As the world’s manufacturing heartland, Asia faces significant sustainability-related challenges. Debate still rages about whether that will entail a trade-off against economic growth. And it is uncertain how America, under president Trump, can drive the SDG agenda around the world—if it will at all. Does Xi Jinping’s pledge at Davos, to lead the world in globalisation, extend to the issue of sustainability?Although Mr Trump has signalled that his country will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, nearly all of Asia has signed on. Will the economic powerhouses of China and India adhere to the ambitious targets the agreement sets? Who should take responsibility for pollutants caused by products built in Asia and exported to the West? And is there a trend towards Asia’s investment community spearheading sustainability in the region?

Alan Bollard

Executive director, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Alan Bollard

Executive director, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Alan Bollard is the executive director of the APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, the body that promotes trade, investment and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. Mr Bollard advances APEC’s agenda by executing APEC’s work programmes as mandated by leaders and ministers.
Prior to joining APEC, Mr Bollard was the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012. In that position, he was responsible for monetary policy and bank regulations, helping steer New Zealand through the global financial crisis.

From 1998 to 2002, Mr Bollard was the secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. As the government’s principal economic adviser, he managed the Crown’s finances and helped guide economic policy. He has served as New Zealand’s alternate governor to the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. From 1994 to 2008, he was the chairman of the New Zealand Commerce Commission. Prior to this, from 1987 to 1994, he was director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
Mr Bollard has a PhD in economics from the University of Auckland. He has since been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees. In 2012 he was honoured as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey D Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, a leader in sustainable development, a best-selling author and a syndicated columnist. His monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders and a recent survey by The Economist ranked Professor Sachs among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade.

Professor Sachs served as the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016 and was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016. Prior to his arrival at Columbia University in July 2002, he spent over 20 years as a professor at Harvard University. He is special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals; advised former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Millennium Development Goals; and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.Professor Sachs is director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His work on ending poverty, overcoming macroeconomic instability, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease and promoting sustainable environmental practices has taken him to more than 125 countries. He has advised governments and heads of state on economic strategy for more than 30 years.

Professor Sachs received his BA, MA and PhD at Harvard. He joined the Harvard faculty as an assistant professor in 1980, was promoted to associate professor in 1982 and full professor in 1983, at the age of 28.

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani

Chief executive officer, Sintesa Group

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani

Chief executive officer, Sintesa Group

Shinta Kamdani’s leadership in Sintesa Group began in 1999. As the owner and chief executive officer, Ms Kamdani is responsible for the management and development of the group’s business interests in Indonesia. An Indonesian business group founded in 1919, the Sintesa Group has 16 subsidiaries, divided into four business pillars: property, industrial products, energy and consumer products.

Ms Kamdani serves as the vice chairwoman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, deputy chairwoman of the Employers’ Association of Indonesia, president of the Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development, founder of the Angel Investment Network Indonesia and international board member of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

She has been named among Forbes Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen (2012, 2013 and 2016), Asia’s Leading Businesswoman of the Year from Women in Leadership Forum (2013), Women Entrepreneur of the Year from Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (2014), Women of Power from Asian Business Leadership Forum Abu Dhabi (2012), and 30 Best CEOs by Business Indonesia Award (2015).

Ms Kamdani graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University, in 1989 and completed executive education at Harvard Business School in 2002.

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

12:35 PM

In conversation: Spotlight on China

According to the United Nations, China invested $103 billion in renewable energy last year—more than America, Britain and Japan combined. The goal was to reduce domestic pollution and increase access to international markets. China’s major cities are installing thousands of electric buses and taxis, and the country is in a position to lead the world on sustainability, which presents enormous opportunities for investors.

At the same time, China consumes more coal than every other country in the world combined—and it shows. It is also expanding the development of fossil-fuel projects in Africa and Central Asia, which makes it a major contributor to carbon emissions internationally.

Does China have the political willpower to lead the world in sustainability? Does it want to? How can the private sector work with local, regional and national governments to make progress? How can China solve its own environmental issues? And how long will it be before China relies on renewable energy more than fossil fuels?

Dany Qian

Vice-president, Jinko Solar

Dany Qian

Vice-president, Jinko Solar

Dany Qian is the vice-president of Jinko Solar. As part of Jinko’s leadership team, Ms Qian has extensive experience in scaling businesses in the solar industry and led the execution of Jinko’s market-positioning strategy through the company’s transformation into an industry leader. As an industry veteran, Ms Qian has first-hand exposure to the turbulent nature of the solar industry and has directed the company in navigating through rapid industry changes.

As a leader of the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer, Ms Qian has been very active in the global sustainability conversation. Earlier this year, she co-chaired the B20 Energy, Climate, Resource and Efficiency Task-force. She was also the only solar industry representative at the landmark Paris Climate Agreement meetings.

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist is the global chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. He is responsible for providing intellectual leadership for the EIU’s coverage, for ensuring that its economic and political analysis and forecasts are the best available for international decision-makers, and for managing a global team of economists, consultants and editors. As managing director for the EIU’s Asia consultancy arm, Mr Baptist works with governments to design and assess the impact of public policy, and with companies to drive successful strategy and operational performance in Asia.

Mr Baptist is an experienced economist who has previously spent time as a lecturer at Oxford University and as an economics consultant advising many governments, multinational corporations and international organisations around the world.

Mr Baptist has a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where his research investigated productivity and technology in emerging-market manufacturing firms. He also has degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania.

12:55 PM

Networking lunch

2:00 PM

Strategy session A: Asia’s water imperative (concurrent)

Asia is in the midst of a water crisis. Rapid economic and population growth, along with the effects of climate change, are putting enormous stress on the region’s ability to manage replenishable water. Governments are at loggerheads over who owns rivers that cross their countries’ borders. Water from industrial output is poisoning the soil used for crops in China and, according to UNESCO, 76m people in India lack access to clean drinking water. Lousy public and private water management exacerbates the problem.Yet, water-trading initiatives, advancements in technology, and increasingly attractive investment opportunities in water infrastructure, driven in part by urbanisation, are promising solutions. How can sectors that rely on water use and treat it more efficiently? How can businesses reduce water wastage? How can governments and businesses create a system where pricing is regulated and sustainable? What needs to change for water treatment and waste to be higher priorities for government? And what is the correlation between investment in water infrastructure and overall economic growth?

Daniel Porzel-Fang

Daniel Porzel-Fang

Daniel Porzel-Fang is the assistant chief executive and a director of Shenzhen Fountain Corporation, a publicly listed real-estate, clean-energy, transportation and environmental technology company. He joined the business in 2006 and was appointed to its executive board; in 2010, he joined the board of directors. His focus on innovative water technologies is his latest contribution to the company’s sustainable development.

Mr Porzel-Fang started his career at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (now Airbus), where he worked on company-wide finance and reporting integration for the newly established aeronautics group. After short stints at Deutsche Bank and Dywidag-Systems International, a technology company supplying the construction and underground mining industries, he moved to China, where he joined the administration of the Guangzhou Development District, a state-level development zone. He was the first foreigner to be directly employed by a government agency in Guangzhou, and was part of a team that attracted the largest single foreign direct investment in the city’s history, which was worth over $2 billion.

Dechen Tsering

Regional director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Environment Programme

Dechen Tsering

Regional director for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Environment Programme

Dechen Tsering was appointed as the regional director of UN Environment in Asia and the Pacific in March 2017. As the regional arm of UN Environment, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the Asia-Pacific office works with governments, local authorities and the private sector to develop and put into place cleaner and safer policies and strategies that encourage the efficient use of natural resources and reduce risks for humans and the environment.

Ms Tsering has held management and leadership positions with the United Nations and has over 25 years of experience in national government and intergovernmental organisations, including the World Bank. She has been actively involved in intergovernmental negotiations as a key negotiator for least-developed countries and contributed to the establishment of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group. She also has experience in the management of complex development projects.

She comes to UN Environment from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, where she served as director of the Finance, Technology and Capacity-building Programme. In that position, she supported international co-operation on mobilisation of finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity building to enable countries to take enhanced action on climate change. Prior to that position, she was the deputy regional director of UN Environment in Asia and the Pacific.
Ms Tsering holds a PhD in forest economics and policy from the Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. She also has a master’s degree from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei

Executive director, Integrated Environment Policy & Planning

Mohamed Yousef Al Madfaei is the executive director of the integrated environment policy and planning sector at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD). He leads the organisation’s whole-of-government environmental strategic planning and the development of environmental policy. He also defines the EAD’s position on key environmental issues while working with local and federal entities to work an environmental agenda into their strategies and plans, and sits on several high-level committees at the federal and local levels. Mr Al Madfaei holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of St Thomas in Minnesota, a master’s degree in strategic and security studies from the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates, and a PhD in environmental management from the University of Reading.

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson

South-east Asia correspondent, The Economist

Miranda Johnson is The Economist’s South-East Asia correspondent. Prior to this role, she was US South-east correspondent based in Atlanta and environment correspondent in London. Ms Johnson’s varied interests mean she has written for the international, United States, Britain, science and business sections on topics from youth unemployment and energy policy to smartphones and fiscal corruption. She has also edited relevant online coverage as a science correspondent and served as the editorial assistant for The World in 2014.

2:00 PM

Strategy session B: Climate change and manufacturing (concurrent)

India, Vietnam and Indonesia rely heavily on manufacturing to fuel economic growth. To achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement in 2015, these countries must take effective steps to reduce carbon emissions. One move could be to introduce a carbon price, especially for the industrial sector, which generates nearly a quarter of global carbon emissions. Much of this comes from Asia. Other measures include improving the energy efficiency of industrial facilities and installing equipment to capture carbon.What effect do climate-change policies have on plant operations and capital investment decisions in Asia? And will the region’s manufacturers curb emissions in countries where regulation doesn’t force them to?

Ms Leung served as SDCC’s deputy director-general, East Asia department deputy director-general and South-east Asia department director for the urban development and water division. She has nearly three decades of experience in multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary projects in Asia and North America. She is an urban planner with expertise in urban development, water resources management, project design and monitoring.

Ms Leung holds a master of business administration from the University of Singapore, a master of science from the University of Toronto, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong.

Anirban Ghosh

Chief sustainability officer, Mahindra Group

Anirban Ghosh

Chief sustainability officer, Mahindra Group

Anirban Ghosh has worked with the $19bn Mahindra Group, where he is currently the chief sustainability officer, since 1999. He leads the strategy and implementation of the group’s sustainability drive. He has shaped Mahindra’s award-winning sustainability framework and has been acknowledged as a distinguished chief sustainability officer.

Mr Ghosh has held roles in sales, marketing and strategy in Mahindra’s farm business and has been the president of Mahindra USA. He has created strategies leading to Mahindra becoming the largest tractor company in the world and expanding beyond farm equipment into the entire agricultural value chain. He has also led an impactful project in which the income of 20,000 rural Indians more than doubled in five years.

Mr Ghosh has served on the committees of many industry associations in India and the US, including the board of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, USA. He has been a guest lecturer at business schools in India.

Teddy Sianturi

Director of center for research and development of industry, ministry of industry, Indonesia

Teddy Sianturi

Director of center for research and development of industry, ministry of industry, Indonesia

Tommy Leong

President, East Asia and Japan, Schneider Electric

Tommy Leong

President, East Asia and Japan, Schneider Electric

Tommy Leong is the zone president for East Asia and Japan at Schneider Electric. Since his appointment in 2015, he has led the company’s operations in South-East Asia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Mongolia, driving business performance and transformation. He has 25 years of business experience, and formerly held management and marketing roles at Philips, including president of Philips Lighting for Greater China and vice-president of Philips Consumer Lifestyle for ASEAN and the Pacific. During his 13 years at Philips, he was responsible for leading and developing professional and consumer businesses in the Asia-Pacific and China. Mr Leong started his career with nine years at Procter & Gamble, where he gained experience in marketing and brand-management roles in South-East Asia, covering the babycare and haircare categories. He graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and has completed executive development programs with INSEAD, Stanford-NUS and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard leads the Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial services in Asia-Pacific, including Corporate Network, a peer group for senior decision-makers of global businesses operating in the region. A journalist by background, he has worked across a range of publications and services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including as author of the China Market Atlas series and director of its research divisions. A frequent traveller and speaker, he interacts regularly with business and government leaders across Asia. He is also executive director of The Economist’s World Ocean Summit, a global series of events on the sustainable use of our seas.

3:00 PM

Networking break

For sustainable growth in Asia to work, investors must support it. Lenders could drive sustainable growth by increasing the cost of debt to high-polluting companies. Asset managers and other equity firms could apply environmental, social and governance (ESG) pressure to companies looking for their money.Many challenges remain. Inconsistent regulatory principles, difficulties in evaluating potential debtors and investment opportunities, and questions of how to effectively assess environmental risk all stifle capital flows. Sustainable investment options are also limited and need to increase.How can financial backers collaborate with governments and international associations to improve voluntary adoption of sustainable principles? And how should the private sector integrate social and environmental objectives with financial ones?

Azam Khan

Country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, International Finance Corporation

Azam Khan

Country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, International Finance Corporation

Azam Khan is the country manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Lesté at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and is based in Jakarta. Previously, he was the IFC’s chief investment officer for infrastructure in East Asia and the Pacific, and was based in Singapore.

Mr Khan joined IFC in Washington in 2000 as an assistant investment officer in the private-equity and investment funds department. From 2003 to 2011, he led its private-equity business in East Asia. He was also the global structuring specialist for all infrastructure and distressed debt funds, and negotiated transactions with leading players across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Russia.

He holds a master’s degree in engineering and an MBA from Purdue University.

Chris Botsford

Chief executive officer, ADM Capital

Chris Botsford

Chief executive officer, ADM Capital

Christopher Botsford is chief executive officer of ADM Capital and a member of the investment advisory committee. Prior to establishing ADM Capital, Mr Botsford ran the Asia-Pacific regional debt and derivatives operation for Republic National Bank of New York. In 1995, he was a founding board member of the Asian arm of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the self-governing body for the derivatives industry. Mr Botsford has a master’s degree in engineering from Cambridge University, England.

Ephyro Luis Amatong

Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Philippines

Ephyro Luis Amatong

Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Philippines

Ephyro Luis B Amatong was appointed a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines in 2014. He is currently the supervising commissioner for the markets and securities regulation department and the economic research and training department. Before joining the SEC, Mr Amatong was an assistant secretary of the Department of Finance, where he had an active role in the privatisation of 74 ha of Food Terminal Inc.

He has served in various capacities in the government, including as vice-president of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (2012–13), corporate staff officer of the National Power Corporation (2010–12), acting chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration (2011), corporate legal counsel and assistant corporate secretary of PNOC Exploration Corporation (2008–10), adviser to Ambassador Hilario Davide of the permanent mission of the Philippines to the United Nations (2007–08) and senior law clerk to then Justice Conchita Carpio Morales of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (2003–05). Before joining the government, Mr Amatong was an associate with Villaraza & Angangco (2002–03).

Mr Amatong was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2002 and the New York Bar in 2007. He holds a master of laws degree, international finance concentration, from Harvard Law School (2006). He also holds a bachelor of laws degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law (2001) and a bachelor of science in business economics degree, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (1997).

Marc Lohoff

Chief operating officer, Conergy

Marc Lohoff

Chief operating officer, Conergy

Marc Lohoff is Conergy’s chief operating officer. He is based in Singapore. In 2012, Mr Lohoff joined the management board of Conergy AG and served as the company’s chief sales officer and chief operations officer. He has played a substantial role in developing the Asia Pacific region for Conergy since joining in 2009 as corporate vice-president.

Before joining Conergy, he was responsible for all manufacturing co-operation at Qimonda AG, focusing on Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan. He was also responsible for the planning of a new DRAM (dynamic random access memory) factory in Singapore. Prior to this, Mr Lohoff worked for several years at Siemens AG and at what would later become Infineon Technologies AG in various leading management roles in logistics, factory automation, and DRAM factory construction and ramp up.

He started his career as a technical officer at the military airport of the German Air Force, where he went on to become technical director controlling operations at the military airport of the German Air Force in Nörvenich. Mr Lohoff studied aeronautical and aerospace engineering at the German University of the Armed Forces in Munich (Universität der Bundeswehr München).

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist

Simon Baptist is the global chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. He is responsible for providing intellectual leadership for the EIU’s coverage, for ensuring that its economic and political analysis and forecasts are the best available for international decision-makers, and for managing a global team of economists, consultants and editors. As managing director for the EIU’s Asia consultancy arm, Mr Baptist works with governments to design and assess the impact of public policy, and with companies to drive successful strategy and operational performance in Asia.

Mr Baptist is an experienced economist who has previously spent time as a lecturer at Oxford University and as an economics consultant advising many governments, multinational corporations and international organisations around the world.

Mr Baptist has a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where his research investigated productivity and technology in emerging-market manufacturing firms. He also has degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania.

4:15 PM

In conversation: Science, technology and innovation

Innovation and technology will be crucial to improving sustainability in Asia, and can be a part of solutions built to target particular SDGs.Tata has launched a mobile app to bring weather information to smallholder farmers. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola now replenish all the water they use in Asia, alleviating the risk of scarcity. Big data is enabling countries and businesses to analyse supply chains, forest conservation efforts, and water and air pollution, and to map environmental risks like never before.Yet advances in technology threaten to displace workers, which runs against the SDG agenda. What will be the outcome of technology’s effect on sustainability in 5, 10 and 15 years’ time?

Alan Jiang

Head of South-East Asia, ofo

Alan Jiang

Head of South-East Asia, ofo

Alan Jiang is the head of South-East Asia business for ofo, a leading station-free bike-sharing company that operates in 17 countries. He oversees the company’s strategy and operations in the region. Previously, Mr Jiang was at Uber for four years, helping to launch its business in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in economics.

Idris Jala

President and chief executive officer, PEMANDU Associates

Idris Jala

President and chief executive officer, PEMANDU Associates

Idris Jala is the president and chief executive officer of PEMANDU Associates, a private firm as of 1st March 2017, specialises in delivering transformation. He is also an adviser to the prime minister on the National Transformation Programme. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), a unit in the Prime Minister’s Department – the organisation tasked with spearheading Malaysia’s transition towards high income status by 2020. For six years, he also served as minister in the Prime Minister's department, Malaysia and as the managing director of BFR Institute.

Mr Jala is also the founder and executive chairman of the Global Transformation Forum, a platform for influential global leaders to engage and share experiences and best practices on how to drive transformation. In addition, he is an expert resource speaker at the Harvard Ministerial Health Leaders’ Forum and a visiting fellow of practice at the Oxford Blavatnik School of Government. He served on the advisory panel for the World Economic Forum on New Economic Growth and on the advisory panel of the World Bank.

Prior to his government stint, Mr Jala was managing director and chief executive officer at Malaysia Airlines for three years. He also spent 23 years at Shell, rising up the ranks to hold senior positions including vice-president, Shell retail international, and vice-president of the business development consultancy, based in the UK. His work included successful business turnarounds in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Mr Jala holds a bachelor’s degree in development studies and management from the University of Science, Malaysia, and a master’s degree in industrial relations from Warwick University.

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard leads the Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial services in Asia-Pacific, including Corporate Network, a peer group for senior decision-makers of global businesses operating in the region. A journalist by background, he has worked across a range of publications and services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including as author of the China Market Atlas series and director of its research divisions. A frequent traveller and speaker, he interacts regularly with business and government leaders across Asia. He is also executive director of The Economist’s World Ocean Summit, a global series of events on the sustainable use of our seas.

4:45 PM

Voice from the future: The face of Asia in 2050

The differences between the generations—baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and centennials (aka Generation Z)—are as numerous as the names for them. The political, business and social leaders of 2050 will think in dramatically different terms to those of today. They will be more environmentally conscious, more connected and more tolerant. But will they spearhead sustainability when they reach positions of power? How will they deal with the environmental fallout of past generations’ habits and decisions? And will the current generation be the last to balk at the task of fighting climate change?

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Founders, Bye Bye Plastic Bags

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Founders, Bye Bye Plastic Bags

When they were 10 and 12 years old, Melati and Isabel Wijsen created Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB), a youth-driven non-governmental organisation that promotes the elimination of plastic bag use. Believing that education is the key for change, the sisters created a 25-page booklet on waste management and youth action. BBPB also provides education through meetings, events, social media and their One Island One Voice campaign, which encourages and celebrates plastic bag–free businesses. They even inspired Bali’s airport to make an official declaration to ban plastic bags. In 2014, BBPB signed a memorandum of understanding with the governor to make Bali plastic free by 2018. In a pilot village, launched by BBPB, they are experimenting with how to make it plastic bag free. In 2015, they gave a TED talk that has now been viewed by over 1.2m online. The team has spoken in eight languages to more than 16,000 students in 13 different countries. To date BBPB has expanded to more than 10 countries. Ms Melati is also a member of the Youth Advisory Council of World Oceans Day, as through their four years of campaigning they increasingly are realising the importance of the ocean and the urgency to protect it.

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard leads the Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial services in Asia-Pacific, including Corporate Network, a peer group for senior decision-makers of global businesses operating in the region. A journalist by background, he has worked across a range of publications and services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including as author of the China Market Atlas series and director of its research divisions. A frequent traveller and speaker, he interacts regularly with business and government leaders across Asia. He is also executive director of The Economist’s World Ocean Summit, a global series of events on the sustainable use of our seas.

5:05 PM

Closing remarks

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard

Editorial director, Asia-Pacific, The Economist Intelligence Unit

Charles Goddard leads the Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial services in Asia-Pacific, including Corporate Network, a peer group for senior decision-makers of global businesses operating in the region. A journalist by background, he has worked across a range of publications and services at the Economist Intelligence Unit, including as author of the China Market Atlas series and director of its research divisions. A frequent traveller and speaker, he interacts regularly with business and government leaders across Asia. He is also executive director of The Economist’s World Ocean Summit, a global series of events on the sustainable use of our seas.

5:10 PM

Networking drinks: Meet the moderators

Meet session moderators from The Economist and the EIU to ask their views about the future of sustainability in Asia.

Venue

Only 35 minutes from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa is part of Sunway City, an all-in-one hotel experience that offers unrivalled access to shopping, dining and entertainment, for leisure and business travellers alike. Come and experience more Malaysian hospitality in this luxurious 5-star hotel.

Special rates during the event period on Oct 30- Nov 2 are available at

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Sponsors

Founding supporter

The Jeffrey Sachs Center

The Jeffrey Sachs Center (JSC) is the Southeast Asian hub of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in SDG studies. JSC is housed in Sunway University through a gift of $10 million from the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation.

Gold sponsor

Gold sponsor

Fountain Litree

Fountain Litree concentrates on research, development, and application of ultra-filtration membranes for water purification. We are a high-tech company integrating research, manufacture, and sales of ultra-filtration membrane water treatment technologies. Our products are used widely in areas such as municipal water supply, production water processing, sewage processing and public drinking water.

Supporting associations

Supporting organisation

The Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific

The Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) is the focal point of all development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of and advocacy for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Supporting organisation

EALink

Funded by the European Commission, EALink gives you direct access to various European business support initiatives in Asia, with latest reports, trainings, seminars and services. With only 2 clicks away, EALink puts you in direct contact with Asia based experts and organisations, who can answer your questions and help you be successful in different Asian markets.

Supporting organisation

MENGO

MENGO is an independent coalition of 31 Malaysian NGOs committed towards enhancing the environmental sustainability agenda at local, national and international levels. MENGO works with government agencies and communities promoting and advocating for an ecologically-sound, transparent, participatory and socially just society, through sustainable development policies and practices.

Supporting organisation

High Carbon Stock

The High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach is a practical, field-tested methodology for distinguishing forest areas that should be protected from degraded lands that may be developed, through an integrated land use planning approach. The methodology was developed to implement commitments to halt deforestation while ensuring the rights and livelihoods of local peoples are respected.

Supporting organisation

Eco-Business

Eco-Business is the leading media company serving Asia Pacific’s clean technology, smart cities, responsible business and sustainable development community. Our platforms include the award-winning Eco-Business.com site which attracts 120,000+ high-level visitors every month and a weekly newsletter that is emailed to over 88,000 subscribers.

Supporting organisation

SuperCharger

Strategically headquartered in Hong Kong, SuperCharger is a FinTech accelerator dedicated to both early-stage and growth-stage companies. SuperCharger concluded a successful second program in Hong Kong last April, with the program alumni having raised over US$300 million to date.

PR partner

Zeno Group

Zeno Group is a global, integrated communications agency, born from PR. The award-winning agency is committed to work that delivers true business value for clients across consumer, corporate, health and technology industries.

Enquiry

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